Articles written by Reynold Conger

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About me - Reynold Conger

I am a retired scientist and engineer who followed an industrial career with seven years high school science and math. For years I wrote technical reports and technical articles. Of course I still write some non-fiction, but lately I have been writing fiction

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Politics, News & Issues > Political Issues Banning smoking in public areas: 2 of 100
It is well documented that tobacco smoke is a health risk to the smoker and the nonsmoker. On the positive side, smoking is a practical way to administer the drug, nicotine, and some people enjoy a physical and psychological pleasure similar to sucking one's thumb. Nicotine first acts as a depressant but in extended doses bec... More..
Education > Teachers & Administrators Should teachers be held accountable for low student test scores?: 2 of 39
The goal of education is to get students to think, learn skills and learn information. Unfortunately the only way we have to evaluate students is to test them with tests that we hope are uniform and standard. To start, we must recognize that any test score has a measure of experimental error, and educators frequently improper... More..
Health & Fitness > Alcoholism Does having a drinking age of 21 contribute to binge drinking and alcohol abuse among college students, as claimed recently by a group of university presidents?: 1 of 16
Binge drinking is immature behavior. The reasons behind binge drinking are social and related to being accepted by the peer group. A binge drinker is either trying to gain acceptance with his or her buddies or trying to show the world that he or she is the best drinker of those present. Those who engage in binge drinking ... More..
Education > Teachers & Administrators Should teachers receive increased compensation for improving student performance from year to year?: 1 of 10
Ah, it would be wonderful to be able to encourage better teacher performance by compensating teachers for their students' improvements in grades or test scores. Unfortunately the performance of students is not directly related to teacher performance. The performance of any student is influenced more by other factors than by t... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Christian Beliefs & Culture Is the Christian Eucharist in the form of real bread and grape juice legitimate?: 1 of 9
A highly symbolic, ritual meal of bread and wine is called The Eucharist by some churches and Holy Communion by others. This sacrament is practiced by all Christians, but there is little agreement about how it is to be carried out.All denominations agree that this sacrament was instituted by Jesus as recorded in the gospels. ... More..
Health & Fitness > Fitness Basics Walking vs. running for fitness: 2 of 16
I like to run. My friend prefers to walk. Which is better?We can argue the benefits of running versus walking, but the end results is that both are excellent forms of exercise. Which do you like most? Which meets your goals. The facts of physics are that a person gets about the same amount of exercise per mile regardless of w... More..
Pets & Animals > Dog Psychology Cesar Millan: Can humans really be a pack leader to a dog?: 1 of 8
Members of the canine family tend to be social animals. Unlike some animals who come together only for mating, the male canine generally stays near his mate while the pups are raised. There are occasional individuals who live alone, but most wolves live in family groups and hunt in packs. Coyotes are known to operate in famil... More..
Education > Educational Philosophy Teaching the world: Should experts impose teaching methods they consider superior or should local methods be honored?: 2 of 15
As a teacher, I am constantly bombarded with orders from my administrators to use the latest "research based" teaching method. Like others, I constantly look for ways to improve my teaching techniques and increase the learning by my students, but I am not always helped by being forced to use someone else's methods.the term "r... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Racism Can't African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, etc., just be called Americans?: 14 of 74
By putting too much emphasis on ethnicity, America is tearing itself apart.The United States spent much of the 19th century ridding itself of slavery. In the 20th century, we successfully eliminated the worst of segregation and racism. First in World War II we began to give Blacks the same rights and responsibilities as other... More..
Sciences > Chemistry The ideal gas law: 1 of 5
The volume of a gas changes with temperature, pressure and the number of molecules in the container. Early workers used experimental data to derive Charles Law and Henri's Law. They recognized that these laws were imperfect in that they did not take into account the volume of the individual gas molecules or any forces of attr... More..